FinCEN: Wildlife Trafficking  Is on the Rise

The nation’s top money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog reported wildlife trafficking threats are on the rise.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the U.S. Treasury Department that collects and analyzes data on financial transactions and financial crimes, released its Financial Threat Analysis. The report was based on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data, which tracks movement of criminal proceeds, estimated at as much as $23 billion annually and comprising 25% of all wildlife trade. 

Treasury officials said wildlife trafficking is a global organized crime enterprise that fuels corruption, damages sensitive ecosystems and can hurt the economy and public health. These crimes include the illegal trade of protected animals and animal parts that involve finding, transporting and distributing them illegally, as well as money laundering, which damage financial integrity. 

“Today’s report demonstrates the critical role that financial institutions play in identifying wildlife trafficking and protecting the U.S. financial system from associated illicit finance through compliance with their BSA obligations,” said FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das in a statement.  

FinCEN revealed its investigation of wildlife trafficking-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) found that wildlife trafficking is affecting the nation’s financial sector. From January 2018 through October, wildlife trafficking-related SARs dramatically increased.

These filings are on track to meet or exceed the number of SARs filed last year. 

The Treasury said it publicizes these threats because of their robust association with corruption and global criminal organizations.

In June, FinCEN published two of its anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing priorities. They include the importance of reporting and analysis of illegal financial flows and how such trafficking contributes to biodiversity loss, and the likelihood of spreading disease between animals to humans or from humans to animals. 

The FinCEN report is required under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which calls on the law enforcement agency to regularly publish threats, patterns and trends based on SARs.  

Last month, FinCEN coordinated a session on environmental crimes and issued a notice about the increasing number of environmental offenses and associated illicit financial activity.

See more: FinCEN Warns of Rise in Environmental Crimes